A matter of affairs
by jsmisacb
Summary: Human au. Six best friends just after they have graduated college. Will their relationships suffer or will they become closer than ever?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi I know I haven't updated any of my other fics but to be honest I never had much of a direction with them so this is a new one that I will update much more regularly and will hopefully have a bit more structure to it. It's a human Au so obviously it's a bit different. John and Maren(six) are siblings in this and also the only definite ship I have for now is John/Sarah so please leave which other relationships you'd like to see. I'm currently stuck between maren/Stanley or Maren/sam so please tell me which one you prefer. Also naveen isn't in this chapter because I wasn't sure whether or not to include him so that will also be decided on your suggestions. Anyway here it is and I hope you enjoy and as always if you do enjoy please leave a review:)**

_Chapter one_

John tapped his pen against this desk impatiently. She was late. He looked at his watch for what was the fourth time in the past minute. 4:13. She should have been here nearly 15 minutes ago. He sighed and began to tap his foot against the wooden floor of his studio apartment. Usually he didn't care if people were a little late, but today he was on edge. He was about to do something that just four years ago he never would have thought he would be doing and he definitely needed a second opinion before going through with it. The decision that he would make today would impact his entire future, he needed help. Just as he took out his phone he heard the knocking at the door he had been waiting for. He rushed to the door as if his life depended on it and opened it swiftly. Standing their was the familiar sight of his fiery blonde sister, Maren, who was wearing he signature scowl.

"What do you want John?" She said as she invited herself into the apartment where she spent most of her time, along with her other friends. The tone of her voice suggested that she had no desire to be there. Although she loved her little brother and they were close, when he said he needed help immediately she had a feeling he was being dramatic. John's version of an emergency was usually that he hadn't heard from his girlfriend, Sarah, in over two hours. Sarah had been Maren's best friend since high school and had been her brothers girlfriend for just as long. John had been head over heels in love with her for the four years they had dated and his constant puppy love was annoying as much as it was, dare she say it, cute.

"I need to show you something, and I need your honest opinion on it. You and Stanley are the only people who don't care about hurting my feelings but I feel like you will have more to say on this matter than him," John's words came out in a quick haste, his nervousness was apparent. Stanley was John's best friend and although they got along well the tall shaggy haired boy wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought. This however was a matter that required the assistance of his older sister.

"Okay… Well are you going to stand there shaking your leg or are you going to show me," Maren replied with a snark that was familiar to her tongue. Taking his cue, John reached into his pocket and pulled out a small square box, the name Harry Winston could be seen on the top. Maren's face twisted into that of a confused one, if this was a piece of jewellery he would surely show it to Sarah, it was most likely for her anyway. As John opened the box the blonde's mouth dropped as she saw a brilliant round diamond engagement ring. For once in her life she was speechless and had no witty remark to use against her brother. Although it was obvious that it would only be a matter of time before John proposed she was touched that he would want to show her the ring and ask for her opinion. Sure she was his girlfriends best friend but Sarah had other friends, like Marina, who were probably more familiar with jewellery. She ignored her usual cold approach and wrapped her arms around the blonde haired boy who was so shocked by the sudden hug that it took him a moment to register what was happening.

"John it's perfect," Maren beamed, an unusual look for her.

"You think so? I knew you were the only one who I could trust not to tell Sarah. Marina wouldn't be able to keep the secret and anyway you're my sister and one of her best friends so I just thought that maybe you could give me an honest opinion. I can return it, I mean it has to be perfect, she deserves perfect. And if she says no-"

"Shut up John," she interrupted and any notions that John had about her going soft evaporated. "Sarah will love it and of course she'll say yes, she's more or less been hinting at you to propose for months." Now it was John's turn to look confused, he had never even noticed any of the hints Sarah was dropping as Maren had said.

"When are you going to ask her?" Maren continued, choosing to ignore the familiar look of her brothers confused face. He really didn't seem to have a clue most of the time. She loved John but she could never see why a girl like Sarah, who had guys chasing after her, would be so in love with her hopeless brother.

"Eh I was going to ask her on the night of her graduation," so next week, Maren realised. Sarah, Maren, Marina and Sam, another close friend of theirs, would all be graduating from college Friday night. John had chosen to do a college course online as his grades weren't the best and he had never really known what course to take. Stanley on the other hand hadn't attended college at all and was currently working at a local mechanics. He had dropped out of school after he had been expelled nine times in the space of a few months. His father, Sandor, had been far from happy about this but had supported him anyway.

Maren looked at her little brother and smiled. She was truly happy for him and Sarah. Although she and Stanley liked to tease them a lot she had no doubt that they were meant for each other and she was happy for them. Just as she was about to congratulate him the sound of the door unlocking made her turn. John jumped, almost dropping the expensive ring from his hand. He quickly stuffed the ring into his pocket and turned to face the person at the door. When he saw the long blonde hair and blue eyes that he so desperately loved his face changed into a big smile, a smile so genuine that Maren had noticed it only appeared when he was in the presence of Sarah. "Hey, what are you guys up to?" The blue eyed blonde asked, one eyebrow raised as she stared at the siblings who looked like they had just been in serious discussion.

"Oh we were just discussing... Uh... The weather," John stuttered with little confidence in his voice. Maren stared at him with a look of utter disbelief. Was that really the best he could come up with?

"The weather? Seriously?" Sarah replied incredulously.

"Ignore him S he's having a slow day," Maren answered earning a glare from John and a laugh from the other blonde. Before Sarah had a chance to question the siblings any further the door opened once again and Stanley, Sam and Marina all walked in together, the latter of the three was carrying one of her many college textbooks. Sarah and John both exchanged a knowing glance as they noticed the big grin on Sam's face when he saw Maren was already there. The couple had been aware of the lanky brunette boys crush on the snarky blonde for years. Of course whenever they confronted him about it he was quick to deny any romantic interest he had in the girl. "Are we all still on for dinner Friday night after graduation?" Marina asked, her long raven hair blocking her eyes ever so slightly.

"Of course, I mean it will be such a special night we just have to celebrate all together," Maren said with uncharacteristic enthusiasm as she eyed her little brother. John in return glared at her as he noticed Sarah staring with a look of confusion at the two. "Anyway I need to drop off some final assignments to some professors so I'll see you guys tonight" she continued and received a series of "see you laters" from her friends.

Maren was just about to cross the road opposite from the apartment building when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and came face to face the last person she had wanted to be alone with. "Come on Maren, you aren't going to get all shy on me now are you?" Stanley said, his trademark smirk playing across his face. She rolled her eyes, knowing very well where this conversation was headed. "I really think we should talk about what happened last Saturday," he continued.

At the mention of last Saturday, Maren snapped. She grabbed him by the ear and began to twist it earning a shriek of pain from he boy. "You listen to me Stan, last Saturday never happened," she explained with a venom not uncommon for her, "we were both drunk and it was a mistake that's all it was now forget about it."

Stanley pulled his ear away from her grip and grinned, "it didn't sound like a mistake when you were screaming my name."

"You're a pig." With that she turned and crossed the road without looking back. If she had looked back she would've seen that the smirk had faded from the boys face and had been replaced with a look of genuine disappointment.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all so much for the reviews they all mean so much to me so thank you:) It seems most of you want Naveen to be added also at the moment maren/Stanley is winning so that's the direction I'm going to go for now, of course this could still change… I'll try to update every week also . Hope you enjoy this chapter and, as always, please leave a review and any suggestions you have:)**

_Chapter 2_

The smell of freshly ground coffee beans surrounded the old rustic building. There was a dark curly haired boy standing by a clearly out of service coffee machine, inserting coins and trying, in vain, to get it to work for him. Marina, who had gotten a job at the coffee house to help pay her rent, was standing at the counter, bored out of her mind, counting down the minutes until it would be her lunch break. Sarah played with the spoon in her coffee mug and swirled her drink, she was so lost in thought that that she didn't notice Maren walk in and sit on the chair opposite her. "I swear if one more of those ignorant freshmen hit on me I will not hesitate to hit them," growled the blonde as she took what could be described as an aggressive drink from her mug. Sarah almost jumped out of her seat when her friend spoke and Maren could tell from the look on her face that something was bothering her. After being friends with her for almost five years she had come to learn the girls mannerisms and whether or not she was on edge. "Spill it Hart, what's wrong?"

Sarah was about to object and deny the accusation that anything was wrong but when she saw the look on Maren's face she knew her denial would be futile. "John's been acting weird," she began, "he's been really quite lately and today he said he was going over to Sams but when I texted Sam he said he hadn't seen John all day."

Maren stiffened a little as she heard this and she could sense just how angry Sarah was. They weren't the kind of couple who kept secrets. In fact, she was pretty sure they knew everything about each other. But John had told her just that morning that he was meeting with one the jewellers to pay the last few instalments for the ring. Maren cursed him in her head. Why couldn't he have come up with a more solid excuse?! She didn't know what to say. On one hand she had to cover for her brother but on the other hand she knew that Sarah was smart and wouldn't be easily fooled. Just as she was about to speak up she was saved by Marina who had walked over and sat beside her. "This place is driving me insane, the only thing that is keeping me going is that we are graduating on Friday and then I have my internship to look forward to," she began and then, after noticing her friends uneasy looks, she asked, "what's going on?"

Sarah filled Marina in on her situation with John, making Maren more and more uncomfortable. She had to come up with a way to save her little brother from what would be an incredibly difficult encounter with his girlfriend. Just as she was about to tell Sarah that she was probably just overreacting Marina spoke up.

"Don't take that from him S. You should go right up to him and just confront him about it. Don't let him get away with it. John's easy he'll break within seconds."

Maren's eyes widened when she realised that Marina was right, if Sarah confronted John he wouldn't be able to hold off for too long. The worst part was that Marina's advice was exactly what Maren would have said if the situation was any different. Once again Maren was about to object when, once again, she was cut to the chase.

"Your right Marina," Sarah began, "John and I are in a good place and I should just confront him rather than making stupid assumptions. I better go and find him, thank you guys."

Marina smiled and waved goodbye to the blonde while Maren sat in shock. John was screwed. She quickly got out her phone to text her brother only to realise that it was dead. _Shit_, she thought. She took a breath and relaxed a little. What's the worst that could happen anyway? At worst Sarah would be upset for a few days and then John would propose and it would all be in the past. Right? Yeah it would probably be fine. There was a sudden bang behind her that pulled her out of her thoughts and she and Marina both turned to see the dark haired boy who had been struggling with the coffee maker when she had walked in, was now banging on the machine, trying to get it to work. Marina saw from across the room her manager signalling for her to deal with the boy at the coffee machine and the dark haired girl sighed.

"I hate this job so much," she mumbled, "I'll talk to you later Maren, I've got to go."

With that she was gone and stalking over to the boy, she wasn't very happy that her break had been cut short because of some incompetent guy who couldn't work a coffee machine. Although, she had to admit he was sort of cute, in a goofy kind of way. As she approached he stopped banging on the machine and she could have sworn she saw him smile when he saw her.

"You know that if there is no coffee coming out it means it's probably out of order," Marina began, "you could always order from the counter like a normal person."

"Yeah I figured it was broken about five minutes ago," he was smiling now and Marina noticed how cute he looked. "I was just hoping that maybe it would give me an excuse to talk to you."

She was blushing now. A bright red glow started to appear on her dark skin. She was actually being hit on by a guy who didn't seem like a total sleaze and was actually quite charming. She didn't really know what to say. The mysterious boy, however, did. "I was wondering if maybe I could get your number, maybe we could hang out sometime," he said with a small grin on his face. Despite how forward he was being Marina noticed that behind his confident exterior he was actually nervous and maybe even a bit shy. He kept looking down and there was a glisten in his eye when he looked at her, it made her feel… something she hadn't felt in a long time.

"I don't even know your name," Marina replied, now she was the one with the shy smile.

"Naveen," the curly haired boy answered, "it's Naveen."

Xxxx

John walked into the apartment with a broad smile upon his face. He had finally payed the last few instalments on the engagement ring and for the first time he was starting to feel confident about the proposal. The ring had cost a lot but it was worth every penny. Although he would never admit it to anyone, he had been saving up to buy this engagement ring since about a month after they had started dating. He had known since the very beginning that, if she would have him, she would be his future wife. When he stepped into the living area he was surprised to see his girlfriend sitting there, he had thought she would've been out with Marina and Maren for the day. He quickly slipped the ring into his pocket and greeted her with a chaste kiss. He realised then from the look on her face that she was not at all happy.

"John is there something your not telling me," she asked nervously, biting the bottom of her lip. Instead of answering her John just gave her a questioning look, not wanting to make any wrong assumptions. "Like where have you been disappearing to everyday?"

John started to panic. He was never good at keeping secrets, his father, Henri, had once said that he was the easiest teenager to deal with because it was so obvious to tell when he was lying. He started looking everywhere but at her trying desperately to think of some excuse. Of course his silence only fuelled her suspicions. Sarah's face dropped in realisation. He had been disappearing at random times, he lied about where he had been and he panicked whenever she confronted him about any of it. It all led her to one conclusion. "Are you cheating on me?"

Her question made him immediately meet her eyes which were now brimming with tears that she didn't dare let fall. "What?!" John proclaimed, shocked at the accusation, "you know I'd never cheat on you."

"Then tell me where you've been disappearing to everyday." She countered, she was growing angrier by the second. "You've been lying to me about where you have been, we barely talk anymore because you always act so nervous around me, and now you can't even answer a simple-"

"I was out getting you this," he cut her off, he couldn't take it anymore and all of the excuses he could think of weren't at all believable. Silently he cursed himself and pulled out the black Harry Winston box that held the precious ring. John realised now that these next few moments would either make or break his relationship. Sarah gasped when she saw what he held in his hands and for a few seconds neither of them spoke. John could swear that he had never felt so nervous in his entire life. He couldn't take her silence any longer.

"I was going to propose," he stared, too anxious to even make contact with her blue eyes, "I'm really sorry I've been acting so weird lately, I've just been so stressed what with picking out the perfect ring and then wondering if you'd say yes and-"

"John stop," she cut him off when she realised he was rambling, a regular occurrence when he was nervous. "You were going to ask me to marry you?"

"Well yeah," he replied, looking up from the ground where his eyes had been firmly placed for the past few minutes, "I understand though if you want to say no, I know I've been a jerk these past few days."

"Say no? You honestly think I'd say no?" She asked, "Of course I'd say yes, I love you." They were both smiling now and once again a silence overcame the two blondes. John couldn't believe what had happened in just a few short moments. He was about to open the box to give her the ring when he had a sudden thought.

"I'm not proposing to you now though," he started and Sarah's face fell. When he realised how that must of sounded he was quick to explain himself. "I mean of course I'm going to propose. I love you and I've wanted to marry you for so long. But look, I had a whole plan on how this would go and this couldn't be further from what I had planned." He was smiling now as he realised what he was doing. "So all I'm going to say is that I will propose to you soon. In fact it will be this month. But not now. Because when I propose I want you to be surprised, you deserve a better proposal than just me standing here in our apartment after a fight."

Sarah laughed at his sudden idea and had to admit that although she didn't want to wait for his proposal he did have a point. "Is there no way I can convince you to let me just see the ring now?" She whispered seductively into his ear as she let her hand trail down his chest. John gulped and had to remind himself that if he proposed now in the middle of their apartment because she asked him to he would never forgive himself. But she was being incredibly irresistible. But then again, would it really be so bad if he proposed now? Just as he began to debate this in his mind the door opened and the two blondes jumped, both being pulled back into the real world. Sam walked in followed by Stanley, Marina and Maren. The latter let out a sigh if relief when she saw that her brother and friend looked like they had worked things out.

"What are you two so smiley about?" asked Stanley who was looking at both Sarah and John with a familiar disgusted look. He loved the both of them but he was not in the mood to be surrounded by two people who were both so in love when he was silently struggling with his own feelings.

Both Sarah and John smiled at each other and they seemed to make a silent decision in their minds. They proceeded to explain to their friends about what had happened. How Sarah had confronted John and how it had turned out that John had been planning to propose this whole time. "Oh my god!" Marina exclaimed with a shriek, "well show me the ring!"

"Well he hasn't exactly proposed yet," Sarah explained and all four of her friends faces contorted into a confused one.

"I wanted the proposal to be a surprise so, although she knows that it will happen soon, I haven't actually proposed yet" John continued, a broad grin across his face.

Sam, Stanley, Marina and Maren all stared at them in shock. None of them could understand the reasoning behind any of this. "That has to be the-" Stanley began between laughs.

"The most romantic thing I've ever heard," gushed Marina, finishing Stanley's sentence although romantic wasn't exactly the word he would have used. He was more going for something along the lines of 'idiotic' or 'pointless'. He thought the two of them should just get married, he didn't see the point in the whole build up of it. Of course, in Stanley's opinion, marriage was a ridiculous concept anyway, but he knew John didn't share his views at all. The guy was hopeless romantic.

"Well anyway I just dropped by to check if John was still alive," Maren only half joked, "I'll see you all tomorrow at graduation." As she was walking down the hall toward the exit of the apartment building she heard footsteps running behind her. She turned and saw an out of breath Sam trying to catch up with her. "Sam are you alright there?" She asked trying not to laugh at the sight of her friend bent over trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah I, well, I wanted to ask if maybe you wanted to go out with my on Saturday night," the lanky boy asked nervously. He had decided that it was either now or never for him to ask out the blonde. He had had a crush on her for years and he had finally built up the courage to ask her. He just hoped that if she did say no, she would let him down easily. She wasn't at all what you would call soft and she was usually quite blunt with people. Maren's face dropped when she heard his question, she hadn't been expecting this. Sam was a good guy and a loyal friend and, to be honest, she couldn't think of a reason not to say yes and go out with him. It was just one date, right? And it would take her mind off Stanley who had continued to pester her after that one drunken night they had spent together.

"Ok," she said, causing Sam to look up from the floor and his mouth opened slightly with surprise. "One date couldn't hurt I guess. But it better be good, don't waste my time."

"Yeah of-of course yeah," Sam was surprised he could even get the words out of his mouth. With that she turned and left. When he was sure she was gone he jumped in the air with excitement before composing himself and heading back to the apartment. Little did Maren and Sam know, Stanley had been standing around the corner and had heard ever word. His heart dropped when he realised that he might be losing what he never had to start with.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm so sorry for the wait, I've been really busy lately and had no time at all to write! Thank you all so much for the reviews, I love reading them all:) To the anon who commented on Maren and Marina's hair color: I'm using Marens hair from when she dyed it blonde in the Power of Six and I got mixed up with Marina's so im just gonna leave her hair as black to avoid confusion, thank you for pointing it out to me. This chapter isn't really good but more will happen in the next so bear with me. As always reviews mean so much and are greatly appreciated:)**

_Chapter Three_

Stanley was sitting in the restaurant, alone, waiting for his friends to arrive, all of whom were late. He couldn't believe that he was the first to arrive and he was annoyed at having to sit alone at the large table, he looked out of place at the five star restaurant and people were beginning to stare. The graduation had been earlier that day so he had seen them all and they had confirmed that they would meet at the restaurant at half six that night. They were already nearly an hour late and Stanley was being made to look like an idiot. He knew that the four who had graduated were having lunch with their families earlier that day, but that didn't make him any less annoyed. Just as he was about to get up and leave, he saw a familiar curly haired blonde walk through the doors. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. Something had changed between him and Maren since they had spent that drunken night together. Stanley was familiar with one night stands but he couldn't get her out of his mind since that night. He stood up from the table, ready to greet her and happy that they would be alone until the others arrived. But then he noticed that her hand was entwined with someone elses, and he looked up to see Sam walking with her. They were both smiling at each other, Sam was beaming but it was obvious that Maren was trying hard not to make eye contact with the long haired boy at the table in front of her. Sam greeted him but his words went unheard, Stanley was too busy trying to process the sight in front of him. He knew Sam had had a crush on the girl for years and he knew that she had agreed to go on a date with him but he didn't think they would be walking around as if they were in love. He sat back down at the table with his two friends and prayed that someone else would arrive soon so that he wouldn't have to be alone with the two in front of him for too long. He had been caught off guard and he didn't want to appear as weak and hurt as he was to either of them, especially Maren. His prayers were answered, as just then he noticed John, Sarah and Marina walked in. Beside Marina was a dark skinned curly haired boy who Stanley assumed must have been the date she had mentioned earlier. His name escaped his mind however, and he racked his brain trying to remember what it was. Nevin? Pavlo? Joey? He couldn't remember but at that point he was just relieved that he wouldn't have to be alone with Romeo and Juliet for any longer.

"Hey you must be Nevin, what a pleasure it is to meet you," Stanley said to his friends date, shaking his hand profusely, eager to avoid any conversation that involved either Maren or Sam.

"Actually my name is-"

"Take a seat come on tell me about yourself," he was smiling so much his face hurt, but he was nervous and wanted to show that he was alright and not as downheartened as he felt. He wasn't too sure it was working though as everyone was looking at him as if he had two heads. Naveen looked around the table unsure of how to react. He had just met the guy but he was relieved that he wasn't the only one who was freaked out by his enthusiasm. He wanted to make a good first impression with Marina's friends so he decided it would be best to just go along with it and try and be polite.

"Well," he began, "I'm originally from India, I moved here when I was fifteen with my-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Stanley interrupted again, this time with more confidence in his voice and maybe a bit of annoyance. He wasn't annoyed with the new guy (what was his name? Neville?) but more with Maren. He knew she didn't feel anything more than friendship for Sam and he was started to get irritated at her flaunting her new relationship at him. "Tell me about how you and Marina met, Neville, was it love at first sight?" The sarcasm on his tongue was evident but Naveen decided to answer anyway.

"Eh well I mean I thought she was beautiful and she seemed really funny and nice," he looked over at the girl he was talking about with a smile as he saw she was now blushing, "so I asked her out, I kind of felt we had a good chemistry."

"Chemistry, you say?" Stanley turned and looked directly at Maren, "such an important part of a relationship, wouldn't you agree Maren? I mean what's the point of dating someone when you know it'll never go anywhere?" The blonde glared at him and the tension between the two was electric. Everyone else at the table looked at each other, confused. No one knew about Maren and Stanley's drunken night and it wasn't something anyone even suspected so they all just awkwardly sat there. Marina was now glaring at Stan for embarrassing her and her date and John was asking Sarah if she knew what was going on. Although the silence only lasted two seconds it felt like a lifetime. Maren was the first to speak and her tone wasn't at all friendly.

"Stan, can I please talk to you outside for a minute?"

"Actually I'm fine here-" he was cut off by Maren pulling him out of his chair and towards the exit. The table fell back into silence. Sarah gave John a look, telling him to say something.

"So," John said hesitantly, "anyone know what the chicken here is like?"

Xxxx

"What the hell was that?!" Maren yelled, loud enough that he was surprised the people back in the restaurant couldn't hear her.

"I don't know what you mean," He began, feigning dumb, "I was just talk to Norton about how he and Marina met."

"Okay, first of all, his name is Naveen you idiot. Second of all, you were purposefully making things awkward for me just because I am with Sam now!" She was fuming, this was her graduation night and he was ruining it was his selfishness, "Sam is your friend, what is your problem?!" He looked down at the ground a solemn expression on his face. There was no use in riling her up anymore.

"I think Sam is great and he's one of my best friends" He began,raising his head so that he could meet her eyes, "but he's not right for you and you know it. You're using him to get back at me and so that you can pretend what happened between us didn't matter." His voice sounded desperate and his usual cockiness was gone. This was his last chance to make her see the truth, to convince her to give him a chance. So he could show her how good he would be to her and how great they would be together.

"Stanley listen," the anger now gone from her voice, she was tired of the constant back and forth between them. "I really do like Sam. He's a good guy and I want to try out being with him. I don't want to constantly fight with you about this, someone is just going to get hurt and that someone might not be you or me."

He knew she was talking about Sam and how hurt he'd be by finding out that they had hooked up. Stanley had known that Sam had always liked Maren and he'd be crushed if he found out the girl he had longed for actually preferred one of his best friends. He teased Sam a lot but he did love the guy and didn't want to hurt him. But he also couldn't just let her slip past him when there might be a chance of them being together. He wanted her to be happy and he knew he could make her happy, he would do anything to make sure of it. But if she was truly happier without him then he would accept it. He had to. But he needed to be sure.

"Just tell me one thing," he started his eyes fixed on hers so she could see how serious he was, "And if you say no then I will leave you alone. I won't bug you about Sam anymore, just answer me truthfully; did that night mean anything to you?"

She stared back at him and was silent for a few seconds. Her answer could change everything. She had just graduated college and everything in her life was moving so fast, the decisions she made now, at this point in her life, could impact her future immensely. She tried to picture what a life with Stanley as her boyfriend would be like. They both had vicious tempers and were stubborn as hell. There would be fights, words said that neither meant, and they were both vastly inexperienced with relationships. Sam, on the other hand, would be a good boyfriend, he'd treat her well and she knew that any fights they had would be tame enough, sam wasn't a fighter. She thought of her brother and her best friend and how good they were together and how, despite the fact Sarah came from a family of wealth and class and John didn't, they worked so well. The question was, did she want the safety and stability with Sam, or did she want the recklessness and unknown with Stan. And suddenly she knew her answer.

"No," she said, trying to keep eye contact with him, "It meant nothing. I'm sorry, I want to be with Sam."

Stanley nodded his head and looked at his feet again, while Maren tried to ignore the bitter taste she had in her mouth. "Thank you," was all he said before walking off, heading towards his apartment. Maren watched him walk away and once he was gone she dropped her stoic expression and let the sadness overcome her.

Xxxx

"Listen I'm really sorry about tonight," Marina said as they reached her apartment, "My friends, they can be kind of... unpredictable."

The night had gone far from how she had hoped. After Maren pulled Stanley out of the restaurant he didn't return, of which Marina was grateful. She didn't know what had gotten into him but he had completely embarrassed her in front of her date and she would kill him when she saw him next. After he had left Maren had been quieter and Sarah and the dark haired girl made a silent agreement that they would question her about what had happened tomorrow. Thankfully the rest of the dinner went well and Naveen was nice enough to walk her home.

"Don't worry about it," he said, flashing a toothy grin, "it will fun to hear how many more times your friend will get my name wrong again."

"Wait so you mean you want to see me again? Despite the fact that tonight went terribly and that my friend is an egotistical jerk?" She was genuinely surprised that he wanted to see her again, she thought that tonight had ruined it.

"Yeah of course I want to see you again," he was beaming now, delighted that he would get another chance to see her,"your friends are weird as hell but they sure are fun to be around. I can just sense all the drama that happens between you guys."

"You have no idea," she muttered but she had a wide smile on her face. She really liked Naveen and his quirky approach to everything. He was always so optimistic, it was nearly impossible not to smile when around him. She had dated a few guys during college but she didn't last with any of them for very long. She never really felt any of those relationships would even last anyway, they all seemed to have an expiry date. But with Naveen it seemed like it was something special. She felt heat rise to her cheeks as she thought this. She only knew the guy for about a week and here she was thinking about their future together.

"Do you want to come in," She said, trying to not sound as nervous as she suddenly felt.

"Yeah sure, I'd love to," He had his trademark smile on his face and they both laughed at how ridiculous they both felt. They were acting like two teenagers who had just had an awkward first kiss. Marina shook her head and dragged him into her apartment.

She didn't know what she had expected when she invited him in. Usually it would mean sex but the two of them ended up playing games late into the night. She had never laughed so much when they decided to play truth or dare and he confessed that when he was little he had thought he was a God with supernatural powers and that his father, Reynolds, had to sit him down one day and tell him he couldn't go around saying he was one of the avatars of Vishnu. Marina told him of her strict religious mother and her younger sister, Ella, who Naveen said he would be excited to meet if he ever got the chance. She felt like she could tell him anything and he felt he could be exactly who he was around her. At around four in the morning they both fell asleep, her head against his shoulder and his back against her bed. Although they didn't sleep together, it was one of the most intimate nights Marina and Naveen had ever had.


End file.
